Korea Medical Visas: C-3-3 and G-1-10 Explained

Korea issues two distinct statuses to people entering for treatment: C-3-3, a short-term visit status for medical tourism, and G-1-10, the status the Ministry of Justice uses for foreign patients staying longer. The rules below are taken only from Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs mission pages and Ministry of Justice publications. Where an official source does not state something, this article says so rather than filling the gap.

Which visa do I need to get treatment in Korea?

C-3-3 is the medical tourism status, issued only when an institution registered with the Ministry of Health and Welfare invites you. If you intend to stay 91 days or more, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directs you to the G-1 route instead, which the Ministry of Justice codes as G-1-10 for foreign patients.

Who has to invite me, and what does the clinic provide?

A C-3-3 visa is issued only where a foreign patient attraction institution registered with the Ministry of Health and Welfare issues the invitation. The institution supplies the invitation letter, its registration certificate, its business registration certificate, and proof of your booking. Without a registered inviter there is no C-3-3 application.

The Korean Embassy in Vietnam publishes the inviting institution’s side of the file as four documents:

• The original invitation letter, bearing the corporate seal
• The foreign patient attraction registration certificate (외국인 유치 등록증)
• The attraction institution’s business registration certificate, issued within the last three months
• Proof of the treatment or recuperation booking at the Korean medical or care institution, including the estimated treatment cost

The Korean Embassy in Singapore lists the same two institutional documents in English: the hospital’s Certificate of Business Registration (사업자등록증명) and its Certificate of Medical Travel Facilitator Registration (의료관광 유치기관 등록증), each issued within the previous three months.

Registration is the load-bearing part. Under Article 6 of the Act on Support for Overseas Expansion of Healthcare System and Attraction of International Patients (의료해외진출법), institutions attracting foreign patients register with the Ministry of Health and Welfare — and it is that registration the visa file depends on.

The excellent attraction institution (의료관광 우수 유치기관) designation is a separate Ministry of Justice scheme layered on top of Health and Welfare registration. To qualify, an institution must already be registered under Article 6, have been operating for at least a year, and show either 50 or more medical tourism invitations under C-3-3 or G-1-10, or 500 or more foreign patient treatments. Designations are scored on overstay rate, invitation or treatment volume, and visa refusal rate.

What documents do I have to submit myself?

Your own file covers identity, medical purpose and money: passport and copy, application form and photo, a diagnosis or physician’s opinion substantiating the treatment, evidence you can pay treatment and living costs, and documents establishing your occupation or status. Carers and family members add one document each.

As published by the Korean Embassy in Vietnam, the applicant’s side of a C-3-3 file is:

• Passport and a copy — validity should in principle extend at least six months beyond the application date
• Visa application form and one photograph, taken within six months, 3.5cm × 4.5cm on a white background
• A hospital diagnosis, physician’s opinion or equivalent evidence of the treatment or recuperation, issued by a medical or care institution in Korea or abroad
• Evidence of ability to bear treatment and living costs — a balance certificate and recent three months of bank transaction records, or supporting documents where a Korean institution is funding the treatment
• Documents establishing your status — employment contract for employees, business registration and corporate tax records for business owners, student ID or enrolment certificate for students, retirement documentation for retirees
• A copy of your identity document
• For a carer: a copy of the care contract (간병계약서)
• For accompanying family: documents evidencing the family relationship

The Korean Embassy in Singapore’s English checklist for the same status is structured identically, and adds that a caregiver submits an official family relations document in English proving the relationship to the patient, together with a copy of the patient’s passport.

What if my treatment runs longer than 90 days?

Stays of 91 days or more fall outside C-3-3. Foreign Ministry guidance places a person entering for treatment who intends to stay 91 days or more under the G-1 route, filed with a passport, photograph, application form, material substantiating the purpose such as the treating physician’s opinion, and evidence of ability to pay treatment costs.

One procedural advantage is worth knowing about, because it belongs to the institution rather than to you. Institutions holding the Ministry of Justice excellent attraction designation may file electronic visa applications through the Korea Visa Portal, and those are issued within three days of receipt as a rule. For electronic applications only, the designation also allows proof of financial capability to be omitted, and widens the range of people who may be invited as a carer from direct family alone to relatives within the fourth degree, such as siblings.

The Ministry of Justice publishes the list of designated institutions with its announcements. Areumii does not recommend clinics, and no institution is named here; the point is that whether your inviter holds the designation changes how your application is filed and how quickly it moves, so it is a fair question to ask the institution directly.